Government for the People
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Why shouldn’t we expect the government to help the people? The whole basis of democracy is the idea that we the people are the government. Not to mention that we pay taxes in order to support the government. So why not expect the government to use our money for the benefit of the whole country by providing necessary services and fixing basic infrastructure.
There are some services that just make sense for the government to provide. Having police departments, fire departments, and military services to maintain public safety, makes sense. Who doesn’t think it is a good idea to have dedicated, trained, and professional people available to deal with potential threats or disasters? We all benefit from living in a society that is stable and functioning. Rampant crime and safety risks are not qualities that provide a reliable environment for raising families, innovating technology, or making future progress. So, it is just common sense to want services providing this basic structure and supporting a stable society.
Next it makes sense to have the government provide necessary infrastructure to enable society to function. Having roads, bridges, water supply, sewers, power lines, internet cables, etc is just a normal part of modern society. Again the government is best suited to provide these basic necessities as all of them are needed across the entire country. Think how unnecessarily complex driving from one state to another could become if each state or even each city could drastically change the infrastructure within their vicinity. We take our ability to drive cross-country for granted. We don’t give our ability to access clean water and electricity from any location in the country a second thought. But all of this is possible because of the government having the power to provide the infrastructure the country needs. In fact we should be demanding the government to update and modernise this infrastructure. Let’s use our tax dollars and make it better!
Finally other services should be provided by the government, at least on a basic level. The government has an interest in having a healthy, well-educated population. The health of its citizens is necessary to keeping a country afloat and moving forward. If the population’s health is declining, how will the economy continue to move forward? Sick people won’t be able to work. The need for more and more caretakers will diminish the availability of a labour force in other areas and everything will just go down hill from there. But if the government was able to provide basic health services for all of its citizens from birth, then people will have the ability to keep their health in check before it’s too late. Preventative care makes more sense (and is cheaper) than waiting until medical problems become much worse and harder to treat. It also may free up more resources to study potential cures or even prevention of certain disorders, instead of focusing just on treatment. It just makes sense for the government to step in and provide this basic service.
The same argument applies to education. A country needs a well-educated population in order to innovate and progress. We want to be technologically advanced. We want to develop amazing things in the future. We want to be pioneers and world leaders. Yet, how can we, if we don’t provide an excellent education for all of our children? Yes, not everyone is born a genius. Not everyone will excel in mathematics or science or english or history, but there should still be a basic high level of education provided for all children, so anyone who wants it, has the opportunity to advance. A better educational system will just raise the basic standards for all people in the country. There is a reason the wealthy send their children to private schools. A good education is considered a necessity. The government should also consider a good education a necessity for the entire population and provide the necessary funding.
It just makes sense for the government to use our tax dollars to advance our interests. We, after all, are the government. If we are not using our resources to help our people and make our country better, then what is the point of taxes? And the government is uniquely situated to help make all of our lives better. It is the government that can easily implement healthcare, education, public safety, and infrastructure across the entire country. It won’t matter, what state or city you live in, the government can provide for every citizen, as it should. And at no point does it have to be solely the government. The government should be the baseline. There is no reason why private businesses can not supplement the government in these areas for those who want more choice. Besides having businesses supplement the government would ensure a healthy, functioning free market economy. There would be competition to keep things obtainable for the average citizen and spur innovation. Therefore, there is no need to buy the argument that this is all socialism. It is not. It is our taxes, OUR MONEY, that is providing the basic necessities for a stable and peaceful society, while still allowing for a free market to compete as well. Think about it. It just makes sense.